Drug Lord

Chapter VI

I open the front door with a smile on my face, but quickly replace it with a frown.

"Dylan, how lovely of you to show up! Shawn's timing is impeccable, as always. There's still a whopping twenty minutes 'til the party starts. Is he in the car?" I poke my head out to see an empty red Buick.

"No," he strides past me and I shut the door. "I don't really know where he is at the moment. He just said he wasn't gonna be able to make it home tonight, and told me to come help you. Said he'd explain later."

"Well. You're a little late to be of help," I say, raising my eyebrow and gesturing to the room before us. Our downstairs is basically one big room, aside from the bathroom, the den, a few guest rooms and a few closets. Our kitchen and living room have an open floor-plan, creating one enormous space. I've filled this space with multiple tables draped in black silk, some accompanied by seats and others covered in exquisite finger foods. Shawn had decided it best to hire a bartender as well, who now sits behind the bar that I had stocked full of various dark and light liquors and beers. 

Underneath our feet, the granite floors shine a luxurious white, thanks to an hour long mopping session with yours truly. I must admit, Kingsley's wooden floors really opened my eyes to how I'd been neglecting my own.

Dylan gawks for a good ten seconds before putting his hands in his pockets and shooting me an apologetic look. I hadn't noticed before now how handsome he looks. He's wearing a black suit with a skinny red tie, which, much to my amazement, hides his usual lankiness. His short brown hair is parted on the left and slicked back.

I stuck out my bottom lip and tilted my head down, looking up at him with doe eyes.

"Oh. My. God."

"What?" He shifts and turns red, bringing back a hint of his former boyish appearance.

"Look at you! You look like... you look like a man! There's even hair on your face, you man, you!" I grab his chin and inspect the foreign substance on his face. I determine that it's real as he pulls away from me uncomfortably. Dylan is twenty one, but I still see the cute fourteen year old kid with chicken legs and braces that used to come over after school. I haven't seen him in a suit in years, and I definitely hadn't seen him ever grow facial hair. Oh man, he was really blushing now. I think I may have bruised his ego.

"Yeah, it usually never grows in right so I just shave it off. It'd been awhile so I figured I'd give it another shot and," he turned his head to both sides and waved to his chin, "whatdayaknow."

"Well. It's very becoming." I laughed and nodded in approval.

Guests begin to arrive in quantity, and within the hour the house is filled with hundreds of people. I saw a few kids I'd went to high school with, and about thirty of them from college. There were several that I recognized as Shawn's customers. It was safe to say I didn't know half of the people, but I greeted everyone warmly. Dylan seemed to know most of those that I didn't.

By ten o'clock, our guests were shit faced.

Well, most of them. There were D.D.'s and D.D.D's scattered throughout the house, too. I had made a little over $400. Not as much as I had intended, but not too disappointing either. A lot, and I mean a lot of people bought coke. Dylan was in and out of the den all night.

I stand atop the stairs and sip on my second glass of scotch, taking in the view below me.

Good lord.

It's only been three hours and this place is a circus. This is definitely not one of my parents' parties.

There were girls dancing on top of one of the tables I had set up, being cheered on by a drunken crowd who, too, were dancing. Swaying with a confidence one can only have when inebriated. Across from them, a very pricy game of poker was being played between several gentlemen who looked entirely too sober to be drunk.

Oh, and the couch's limit is being exceeded, for sure. There's a couple getting way too intimate on the farthest left side. Beside them are two guys playing a game on Shawn's Xbox, yelling at one another. I mentally give myself a pat on the back for bringing down his console instead of my precious PS4. Five more people sit beside the gamers, two of them on the coffee table. They're passing around a blunt and discussing something I can't quite make out. I focused my hearing as much as I could and listened 'til I could distinguish a guy's voice saying something pertaining to the amount of scientific discoveries made this year. I quickly decided to join that conversation/rotation. 

At two o'clock, Dylan and I decide that it's time to close it down. The place is just getting too out of hand. It took over an hour to get everyone on the road safely. A lot of cars were left parked by their drunken owners, who either went home with lovers or taxi drivers, paid for by me.

I plop down on the couch, my fourth glass of scotch in hand. This place is a mess.

Dylan shut the door on the last guest and took his turn plopping down exhaustedly.

"Well, I guess we should start cleaning."

I literally burst out laughing. It is four in the morning, and I, who am not a heavy drinker, am on my fourth scotch. I got up and started for the stairs, still laughing.

"Dylan, my parents are dead. They're not coming home tomorrow after a weekend vacation to see if their faith was rightfully put in their kids to have the house alone. There's no one to clean for. Go home. You may be sober but I'm snot. So, let's postpony this cleaning meeting 'til morning cause I'm going to bed. Lock the doors behind you?"

He stood up and scratched his head.

"Are you sure? I can stay and clean while you-"

"No, no, just go home, Dylan. It's fine, I promise. Shawn always has you working, just go home and sheep for once. Oh, and lo-"

"Lock the doors, I know. Goodnight Ori."

Oh God, my bed has never looked so beautiful. I want to bury myself in it, but I know I won't get back up if I do. Dylan left all the lights on in the lower part of the house, a bad habit of both himself and my brother. I'm not about to waste that electricity, buzzed or not, so those have to go off. I'm also in dire need of water.

I took my stilettos off before heading downstairs to the fridge. I pulled a clean glass from the cabinet and held it beneath the ice dispenser. Before I can reach the faucet, the doorbell rings, causing me to almost have a heart attack. I calm down quickly though, figuring someone had lost a cell phone, purse, came back to get a car, etc. This neighborhood has an amazingly low crime rate. Aside from our doings, that is.

I filled my glass with water and headed to the door. After entering the security code, 1901, on the keypad, I unlocked the deadbolt and turned the knob.

"Sorry I'm late." he tilted his beautiful dark head.